Charles Rawden Maclean
Encyclopedia
Charles Rawden Maclean, also known as "John Ross" was born on 17 August 1815 in Fraserburgh
and died 13 August 1880 at sea on the RMS Larne while on route to Southampton
. In a tribute to him during the re-dedication of his grave in Southampton in 2009, the Zulu War author and broadcaster Ian Knight said:
identifies three contemporary sources from which information pertaining to Maclean can be drawn - works by Nathaniel Isaacs
, Francis Fynn
, and McLean himself. Gray is of the view that Isaac's writings were intended to make a sensation of his own adventures rather than being a matter of historic record. In these writings, Maclean was referred to as John Ross, possibly a nickname on account of his ginger hair, though it has been alleged that Isaacs invented that name because he had forgotten Maclean's real name.
, the Mary called in at St Helena where Isaacs boarded as a "companion" to King. After discharging her cargo at Cape Town, King sailed for Port Natal to search for the adventurers Francis Farewell
, an East India merchant, and Francis Fynn, a physician, from whom nothing had been heard for eighteen months. Leaving Cape Town on 26 August 1825 The Mary made several stops along the Southern African coast, anchoring off Port Natal on 1 October. When entering the port, she struck a sandbank and floundered.
Once Farewell returned, King and some members of ship's company, though not Maclean paid a courtesy visit to Dingane, bother of the Zulu
king Shaka
. Once Shaka heard of King's arrival, King and his entire party were summonsed to his kraal
.
The party was well received by Shaka and were given permission to stay, but when the party left, Shaka demanded that Maclean remain behind. Maclean spent a considerable time at Shaka's kraal. In a letter to The Times in 1875 he wrote "During the four years of my residence in Natal, three years were, with little interruption, passed at King Shaka's residence." In reality, a little over three years elapsed between the floundering of The Mary and Maclean's final departure from Natal. Isaacs wrote about a trip that he, Maclean and others made in August 1826 to barter for food from the local population. If Isaacs was accurate in recording Maclean's presence in the party, this would have cut further into the time that Maclean spent at Shaka's kraal.
Maclean, accompanied by two porters, agreed to walk to the Portuguese settlement at Delagoa Bay to replenish their supplies. The journey, 450 km as the crow flies, was probably more than 600 km after taking into account deviations to avoid the then-uncharted wetlands and mangrove swamps
(now nature reserves). The journey would still take them over crocodile
and hippopotamus-infested
rivers, including the 300-metre Tugela River
. Isaacs, Maclean and two porters journeyed first to the kraal
of the Shaka
, the king of the Zulu
where the king was so impressed by their courage that he detailed an escort of 10 warriors to accompany Maclean, who continued to Delagoa Bay. Once Maclean reached the Tsonga
territory that lay between the Lebombo Mountains
and the sea, he paid tribute to Makasane, a Tsonga chief.
On arrival at Delagoa Bay, he was first suspected of being a Zulu spy, but was nevertheless given permission to acquire the required medicines. Such was the local admiration for Maclean that he was given the medicines by well-wishers. Maclean only stayed in Delagoa Bay for three days as he was appalled by the slave trade that he witnessed there. He returned to Port Natal following the coast thereby avoiding Shaka's kraal – his return journey having taken just three weeks.
Most of the details of his walk to Delagoa were published by Isaacs, with Maclean devoting but one sentence to his expoits.
and on 1 December many of the white residents of Port Natal including Farewell, Isaacs and Maclean put to sea for their own safety.
In 1831 Maclean made his first trip to St Lucia aboard the barque Sandwich and by 1840 had become master of the Susan King. In 1846 he was involved in an incident in Wilmington
in which The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Reporter hailed Maclean as a man of "firmness". The incident arose when he docked at Willmington and refused to comply with the local slavery regulations and surrender his black crew members to the harbour authorities. The authorities retaliated by refusing to allow local blacks to unload Maclean's ship.
In the 1850s Maclean wrote a number of articles for The Nautical Magazine
. The first was a series of eleven articles relating to his experiences and observations in Natal. Articles one to nine appeared between January 1853 and January 1854, followed by a thirteen month gap after which the last two appeared. It is ironic that the tenth article, in which he made a passing reference to the Wilmington incident, appeared as Isaacs
was being investigated for assisting in the slave trade.
In the last of his writings in The Nautical Magazine, published in 1857 in four parts, Maclean described his travels to and from St Lucia. Shortly after writing these articles, Maclean settled in St Lucia where he held many civic posts, including that of stipendiary magistrate where he was the de facto mediator between the interests of the white settler community and the emancipated slave community.
In 1875, by now the sole survivor of the Port Natal white community on the 1820s, he wrote a celebrated letter to The Times
in support of Langalibalele
who had been sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island
for insurrection. This letter, showed not only his insight of the Zulu culture, but was also his account of his walk to Delagoa Bay.
and was buried in a pauper's grave the Old Cemetery
in Southampton. On 2 May 2009 the grave was rededicated and a headstone erected. During the re-dedication, the grave was draped with the new flag of South Africa
and the headstone with the Scottish saltire
.
Maclean is commemorated in the city of Durban by a statue on the Victoria Embankment, outside John Ross House
, and also by a plaque at the Old Fort, Durban.
The road bridge on the old N2 route
over the Tugela River
, 8 km from its mouth, was named the John Ross Bridge in his honour. The original bridge was washed away in a storm on 26 September 1987, but has since been rebuilt. The P496 road, which links Richards Bay to Empangeni and the N2 highway is named the John Ross Highway.
He also gave his name to a salvage tug
named SA John Ross, which was built at the Durban shipyards of Elgin Brown & Hamer in 1976. At the time the tugboat was built, it was one of a pair of the most powerful tugs in the world.
Fraserburgh
Fraserburgh is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the 2001 Census at 12,454 and estimated at 12,630 in 2006. It lies at the extreme northeast corner of Aberdeenshire, around north of Aberdeen, and north of Peterhead...
and died 13 August 1880 at sea on the RMS Larne while on route to Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
. In a tribute to him during the re-dedication of his grave in Southampton in 2009, the Zulu War author and broadcaster Ian Knight said:
Maclean was a champion of liberty, and his stone will be one of the few inscriptions in a British cemetery which commemorates a positive interaction between the British and Zulu people; most existing memorials commemorate individuals who were involved in Anglo-Zulu conflict.
Accuracy of contemporary records
There is considerable speculation regarding MacLean's early life. GrayStephen Gray (writer)
Stephen Gray is a South African writer and critic who was born in Cape Town in 1941. He studied at the University of Cape Town, Cambridge University, England, and the University of Iowa, USA. Until 1992 he was Professor of English at the Rand Afrikaans University in Johannesburg.Gray is a prolific...
identifies three contemporary sources from which information pertaining to Maclean can be drawn - works by Nathaniel Isaacs
Nathaniel Isaacs
Nathaniel Isaacs was an English adventurer who played a part in the history of Natal, South Africa. He wrote a book spread over two volumes called "Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa"...
, Francis Fynn
Henry Francis Fynn
Henry Francis Fynn was an English traveler and trader. His diary covers the period from 1824 to 1836 and is the story of the first white settler in Natal, the earliest account of life in Natal...
, and McLean himself. Gray is of the view that Isaac's writings were intended to make a sensation of his own adventures rather than being a matter of historic record. In these writings, Maclean was referred to as John Ross, possibly a nickname on account of his ginger hair, though it has been alleged that Isaacs invented that name because he had forgotten Maclean's real name.
Port Natal and Zululand
In 1825 Isaacs was apprenticed to serve on the 150 ton brig, The Mary under Lieutenant King. En route to Cape TownCape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, the Mary called in at St Helena where Isaacs boarded as a "companion" to King. After discharging her cargo at Cape Town, King sailed for Port Natal to search for the adventurers Francis Farewell
Francis Farewell
Lieutenant Francis George Farewell , the father of the Port Natal Colony in South Africa, was born at Holbrook House near Wincanton in the Vale of Blackmore in 1784. His father was Reverend Samuel Farewell, who died when Francis was young....
, an East India merchant, and Francis Fynn, a physician, from whom nothing had been heard for eighteen months. Leaving Cape Town on 26 August 1825 The Mary made several stops along the Southern African coast, anchoring off Port Natal on 1 October. When entering the port, she struck a sandbank and floundered.
Relations with Shaka
On reaching shore, the party found Farewell's camp, but Farewell and his party were on a hunting expedition. The crew of The Mary were instructed by King to rebuild her, a task that would take three years since the timber had first to be seasoned.Once Farewell returned, King and some members of ship's company, though not Maclean paid a courtesy visit to Dingane, bother of the Zulu
Zulu Kingdom
The Zulu Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Zulu Empire or, rather imprecisely, Zululand, was a monarchy in Southern Africa that extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to Pongola River in the north....
king Shaka
Shaka
Shaka kaSenzangakhona , also known as Shaka Zulu , was the most influential leader of the Zulu Kingdom....
. Once Shaka heard of King's arrival, King and his entire party were summonsed to his kraal
Kraal
Kraal is an Afrikaans and Dutch word for an enclosure for cattle or other livestock, located within an African settlement or village surrounded by a palisade, mud wall, or other fencing, roughly circular in form.In the Dutch language a kraal is a term derived from the Portuguese word , cognate...
.
Walk to Delagoa Bay
Two years after The Mary had floundered, the settlement had had run out of medicine and fresh supplies had to be bought in Delagoa Bay. Isaacs wrote "... when John Ross Lieutenant King's apprentice, a lad of about fifteen years of age, acute, shrewd, and active, was appointed to go the journey".Maclean, accompanied by two porters, agreed to walk to the Portuguese settlement at Delagoa Bay to replenish their supplies. The journey, 450 km as the crow flies, was probably more than 600 km after taking into account deviations to avoid the then-uncharted wetlands and mangrove swamps
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
(now nature reserves). The journey would still take them over crocodile
Crocodile
A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...
and hippopotamus-infested
Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
rivers, including the 300-metre Tugela River
Tugela River
The Tugela River is the largest river in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. The river originates in the Drakensberg Mountains, Mont-aux-Sources, and plunges 947 metres down the Tugela Falls...
. Isaacs, Maclean and two porters journeyed first to the kraal
Kraal
Kraal is an Afrikaans and Dutch word for an enclosure for cattle or other livestock, located within an African settlement or village surrounded by a palisade, mud wall, or other fencing, roughly circular in form.In the Dutch language a kraal is a term derived from the Portuguese word , cognate...
of the Shaka
Shaka
Shaka kaSenzangakhona , also known as Shaka Zulu , was the most influential leader of the Zulu Kingdom....
, the king of the Zulu
Zulu Kingdom
The Zulu Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Zulu Empire or, rather imprecisely, Zululand, was a monarchy in Southern Africa that extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to Pongola River in the north....
where the king was so impressed by their courage that he detailed an escort of 10 warriors to accompany Maclean, who continued to Delagoa Bay. Once Maclean reached the Tsonga
Tsonga
Tsonga may refer to:* Tsonga language, a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa* Tsonga people, a large group of people living mainly in southern Mozambique* Jo-Wilfried Tsonga , French tennis player...
territory that lay between the Lebombo Mountains
Lebombo Mountains
The Lebombo Mountains, also called Lubombo Mountains, are an 800km long, narrow range of mountains in Southern Africa stretching from Hluhluwe in KwaZulu-Natal in the south to Punda Maria in the Limpopo Province in South Africa in the north. Part of the mountains are found in South Africa,...
and the sea, he paid tribute to Makasane, a Tsonga chief.
On arrival at Delagoa Bay, he was first suspected of being a Zulu spy, but was nevertheless given permission to acquire the required medicines. Such was the local admiration for Maclean that he was given the medicines by well-wishers. Maclean only stayed in Delagoa Bay for three days as he was appalled by the slave trade that he witnessed there. He returned to Port Natal following the coast thereby avoiding Shaka's kraal – his return journey having taken just three weeks.
Most of the details of his walk to Delagoa were published by Isaacs, with Maclean devoting but one sentence to his expoits.
Final months in Natal
The rebuilt ship, the Elizabeth and Susan eventually left Port Natal on 30 April 1828 under the captaincy of King. In addition to Isaacs and Maclean, she also carried three Zulu ambassadors led by Chief Sothobe from Shaka who were instructed to make contact with King George. After the vessel made land at Port Elizabeth, the ambassadors were poorly treated and returned with King, Maclean and Isaacs, reaching Port Natal on 17 August. King, who had contacted dysentery died in Port Natal on 7 September. On 22 September, Shaka was assassinated by his half-brother DinganeDingane
Dingane kaSenzangakhona Zulu —commonly referred to as Dingane or Dingaan—was a Zulu chief who became king of the Zulu Kingdom in 1828...
and on 1 December many of the white residents of Port Natal including Farewell, Isaacs and Maclean put to sea for their own safety.
St Lucia
In 1830 Maclean went back to sea and was only to return to Port Natal when a ship on which he was serving put into port, but most of his work was in the sugar trade, sailing between London and St Lucia.In 1831 Maclean made his first trip to St Lucia aboard the barque Sandwich and by 1840 had become master of the Susan King. In 1846 he was involved in an incident in Wilmington
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
in which The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Reporter hailed Maclean as a man of "firmness". The incident arose when he docked at Willmington and refused to comply with the local slavery regulations and surrender his black crew members to the harbour authorities. The authorities retaliated by refusing to allow local blacks to unload Maclean's ship.
In the 1850s Maclean wrote a number of articles for The Nautical Magazine
The Nautical Magazine
The Nautical Magazine is a monthly magazine published by Brown Son & Ferguson containing articles of general interest to seafarers. The magazine was first published in 1832 and has variously been known as The Nautical magazine and naval chronicle for ... and Nautical magazine and journal of the...
. The first was a series of eleven articles relating to his experiences and observations in Natal. Articles one to nine appeared between January 1853 and January 1854, followed by a thirteen month gap after which the last two appeared. It is ironic that the tenth article, in which he made a passing reference to the Wilmington incident, appeared as Isaacs
Nathaniel Isaacs
Nathaniel Isaacs was an English adventurer who played a part in the history of Natal, South Africa. He wrote a book spread over two volumes called "Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa"...
was being investigated for assisting in the slave trade.
In the last of his writings in The Nautical Magazine, published in 1857 in four parts, Maclean described his travels to and from St Lucia. Shortly after writing these articles, Maclean settled in St Lucia where he held many civic posts, including that of stipendiary magistrate where he was the de facto mediator between the interests of the white settler community and the emancipated slave community.
In 1875, by now the sole survivor of the Port Natal white community on the 1820s, he wrote a celebrated letter to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
in support of Langalibalele
Langalibalele
Langalibalele , also known as Mtetwa, was king of the amaHlubi, a bantu tribe in what is the modern-day province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He was born on the eve of the arrival of European settlers in the province. During the diamond rush, many of his young men worked on the mines in...
who had been sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island
Robben Island
Robben Island is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 km west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, Cape Town, South Africa. The name is Dutch for "seal island". Robben Island is roughly oval in shape, 3.3 km long north-south, and 1.9 km wide, with an area of 5.07 km². It is flat and only a...
for insurrection. This letter, showed not only his insight of the Zulu culture, but was also his account of his walk to Delagoa Bay.
Death, burial and memorials
In 1879 his health failed and the following year he travelled to England on the RMS Larne "in search of health". She called at Le Harve on 11 March 1880. Maclean died aboard ship on 13 March 1880 in the SolentSolent
The Solent is a strait separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England.The Solent is a major shipping route for passengers, freight and military vessels. It is an important recreational area for water sports, particularly yachting, hosting the Cowes Week sailing event annually...
and was buried in a pauper's grave the Old Cemetery
Southampton Old Cemetery
Southampton Old Cemetery is a cemetery located in Southampton, England.The cemetery has had various titles including The Cemetery by the Common, Hill Lane Cemetery and is currently known as Southampton Old Cemetery. An Act of Parliament was required in 1843 to acquire the land from Southampton...
in Southampton. On 2 May 2009 the grave was rededicated and a headstone erected. During the re-dedication, the grave was draped with the new flag of South Africa
Flag of South Africa
The current flag of the Republic of South Africa was adopted on 27 April 1994, at the beginning of the 1994 general election, to replace the flag that had been used since 1928...
and the headstone with the Scottish saltire
Flag of Scotland
The Flag of Scotland, , also known as Saint Andrew's Cross or the Saltire, is the national flag of Scotland. As the national flag it is the Saltire, rather than the Royal Standard of Scotland, which is the correct flag for all individuals and corporate bodies to fly in order to demonstrate both...
.
Maclean is commemorated in the city of Durban by a statue on the Victoria Embankment, outside John Ross House
John Ross House (Durban, South Africa)
The John Ross House in Durban, South Africa is a 33-storey skyscraper on Victoria Embanmkent.It is named after "John Ross" , who at the age of 15 walked from Port Natal to Delagoa Bay and back to procure medicine and supplies. His statue stands outside the building.On top of the tower is the Roma...
, and also by a plaque at the Old Fort, Durban.
The road bridge on the old N2 route
N2 (South Africa)
The N2 is a National Route in South Africa; it is the main highway along the Indian Ocean coast of the country. The N2 starts in Cape Town in the Western Cape and runs through the cities of Port Elizabeth and East London in the Eastern Cape and Durban in KwaZulu-Natal to end at Ermelo in...
over the Tugela River
Tugela River
The Tugela River is the largest river in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. The river originates in the Drakensberg Mountains, Mont-aux-Sources, and plunges 947 metres down the Tugela Falls...
, 8 km from its mouth, was named the John Ross Bridge in his honour. The original bridge was washed away in a storm on 26 September 1987, but has since been rebuilt. The P496 road, which links Richards Bay to Empangeni and the N2 highway is named the John Ross Highway.
He also gave his name to a salvage tug
Salvage tug
A salvage tug is a specialized type of tugboat which is used to rescue or marine salvage ships which are in distress or in danger of sinking, or which have already sunk or run aground....
named SA John Ross, which was built at the Durban shipyards of Elgin Brown & Hamer in 1976. At the time the tugboat was built, it was one of a pair of the most powerful tugs in the world.